In a previous blog I wrote about elitism, a blog inspired by visiting a conservative site that sought to characterize the Dems and Hillary Clinton as elitists.

I wouldn’t argue the point other than to say an elitist attitude exists on both sides of the aisle and with the blatantly shameless pandering to corporations and the nations wealthiest Republicans are redefining the word.

So arrogant is their brand of elitism they craft arguments based upon “alternative facts” and microwave ovens with the full expectation that no room exists for dissent or question.

Surprisingly it seems to be a formula that works for them predicated on nativism – you know, that America and my party right or wrong thing that is apparently a contagion of some kind having infected about half the nations population.

Maybe this is something the Center for Disease Control or the World Health Organization should investigate before it becomes a greater national/global pandemic than it already is.

As an indigenous person I was taught that mysteries exist, that it isn’t ours to understand everything – personally I don’t have an issue with that, and yet there are some mysteries that should be pursued and among them no small number are man made.

From a common sense viewpoint it is a mystery why anyone would in effect disenfranchise seniors, yet if you do the math and avoid the rhetorical ruse the answer becomes apparent – the wealthy receive a multi billion dollar tax break

It is the same if you consider why would anyone want to gut environmental regulations and sign off on waste and toxic dumping in the nations stream, rivers, and lakes – corporations can do as they please and increase their already gluttonous profit margin.

Another “mystery” easily solved for those willing to bypass the rhetoric and do the math.

But a mystery within a mystery is how do any who are aware of the math ignore it to aid and abet the national downward spiral?

What possible basis is there for doing so if you personally are not among the one percentor a corporation that will profit in doing so?

The press per se isn’t the enemy of the people as Trump would you have believe – sites like Brietbart that propagate the real fake news are.

The presentation of “alternative facts” is an enemy of the people – declarations of hacked elections resulting in Trump not winning the popular vote and completely unfounded accusations of wiretapping amidst Trumpian calls for an investigation that will either never occur or be predicated upon foxes guarding the hen house are a corruption of the truth and become a defacto enemy of the people.

None of this is of consequence if there isn’t a commonly held belief that people matter, that their welfare supersedes that of a bloated elitist aristocracy, a blind party allegiance, and mad hatters holding elected office.

At the core of it we as human beings all want basically the same things – health, happiness, less stress, and some comfort in life.

We want a fair shake and a level playing field.

We all bleed, love, have our individual quirks, and aspire to a decent wage, decent living conditions, a little disposable income, and the best possible for our children.

Considering these things how is that a national unity doesn’t exist? How is it we are owned by government and corporations rather than the reverse?

How is it we go for the okey doke and sound bites rather than the obvious?

Perhaps more to the point is who profits from all this, what is their agenda, and why do the needs of people mean so little to them ?

A time honored military strategy is to divide and conquer, a military strategy that has become a political one.

No one can deny this is a divided nation, nor can they deny the strategy has worked and will continue to work as long as we fail to do the math, or once having done so ignore the numbers.

A common adage is to follow the money trail, a blind man could follow the trail being left by this administration and it leads nowhere but to the top.

That is known as trickle up economics, not the misnomer of trickle down economics.

Environmental awareness has grown and as that awareness has increased so too the amount of pressure being brought to bear on corporations to loosen their strangle hold on the environment.

Not going to be an easy task taking on this global pandemic of corporate greed and their political cronies but it’s obvious there are alternative clean energy sources and no viable reason not to move in that direction unless of course greed, profit, and indifference have become viable reasons – it isn’t as though the technology doesn’t exist.

The handwriting has been on the wall for some time that fossil fuels and even the subtext of combustible fuels are ravaging not only the planet but the very air we breathe and the water we drink.

I recently read where Bayer has made an offer to buy Monsanto, now there’s a marriage that will be made made in hell that translates to one thing and one thing only, more of the same, more control, and more indifferent greed.

Potential pandemics like the Zika virus are difficult to deny, and yet there are those who will with the usual it’s some kind of Illumnati or government scheme, a virus created in a secret government lab.

The global corporate pandemic likewise has it’s share of “conspiracy” promoters who deny every proof that is before their eyes even as the planet undergoes an industrial age fueled climate change.

By and large such deniers are of the conservative flavor, the same group who have adopted trickle down economics and seem to be okay with wealth egregiously migrating to a few at the top.

If they believe that it’s obvious they may well still maintain the earth is flat and somewhere within the earth’s core there’s another world populated by dinosaurs and cave men and women – reality being secondary to fantasy, and in this country now await the coming of their messiah they call The Donald to make America great.

It’s too bad Earth doesn’t have a twin where they and their messiah could reign doing and denying as they will – a world they could trash and exploit and only they would have to suffer the consequences – a world where there would be only two classes of people, the haves and the have nots, the Morlocks and the Eloi……. unfortunately that isn’t the way of it the though.

The nations have a great many valid grievances when it comes to the Catholic Church, perhaps surprisingly there is a common ground to be found related to climate change.

As a people, as nations, we have long held the belief that the earth is a living breathing entity, a mother or grandmother worthy of care and respect – that belief came with an understanding that no one lives in a vacuum, that a continuity exists in all things resulting in an individual, communal, and global responsibility.

This current Pope, Francis, in the current encyclical related to climate change and income inequity speaks a truth in such a manner as to hopefully raise a galvanizing awareness that will drown out deniers and the “corporate science” whose only interest is maintaining the status quo and increasing the profit margin.

I’ve always been a little amazed by a Christian theology that emphasizes everything but being the “good stewards” their book admonishes them to be.

Churches and televangelists with their “prosperity doctrine” approach have relegated this doctrine of stewardship to the personal financial realm…as it benefits their personal financial realm – having done so they would have all believe a mainstay of stewardship is to give until you bleed.

It is the same approach Conservatives and corporations have adopted with a few adjustments, those being the greater the greed and gluttony of one percenters and corporations the better it is for everyone.

They would have you believe that the fiasco of trickle down economics is not in fact a formula for low wages, more people falling through the cracks, and a growing number requiring public assistance.

Climate change is about more than the environment, it is about social and economic change, it is about a growing disparity between the haves and the have nots, the decline of a solid middle class that is so essential to any economy, and a government populated on both sides of the aisle not by a shared concern for the common good and welfare of the people, but rather that of corporate interests.

A common thief is roundly disparaged, and rightfully so – but what of the thieves who are stealing the climate, raping the environment?

The crimes they commit are not limited to a lone individual or a small number, they are global in nature.

They are crimes committed against all humanity, against your children, your family, your loved ones, your friends…have you nothing to say?

You don’t have to be a Christian, a scientist, or of any belief to understand the reality, and in doing so understand what stewardship means and act upon it.

People seem to think all change emanates from the top and trickles down, kind of like that trickle down economics concept that has been proven to be an egregious lie.

Change I believe originates on the local level, and by it’s very nature begins with the individual and demonstrated within the home first and foremost.

It’s a shallow facade to be “for” the environment and not exhibit that within our immediate surroundings. It’s an equally shallow facade to be “for” equity and not demonstrate that in our day to day personal conduct and dealings.

Maybe we have the right to expect more of elected representatives than we do ourselves, but I would argue that and point out perhaps the miasma the country finds itself in is the result of a such a lopsided equation.

If we live a philosophically lopsided and haphazard lifestyle I’m not sure how we can expect something different of others.

Ultimately I believe all politicians and any in a position of authority should be held to a higher standard, as the influence they wield affects an entire population, and in doing so provide an example, become reflective, and above all representative of communal and local values which in turn would or should be national values.

What we have instead is indicative of the confusion and uncertainty so prevalent today – both of which by construct and intent lend themselves to an existing tiered layer of influence wherein the wealthy and corporations enjoy the best of everything from tax breaks to directing favorable legislation, and the rest of the country, especially depending on demographic status, are offered patronizing rhetoric and the leftover offal swept from the table of the ruling class.

There has never been an election when the mantra hasn’t been “change”, usually accompanied by promises of transparency and open government.

Yet government has become increasing secretive, intrusive, and manipulative.

Ultimately the responsibility for that belongs to the electorate who continue to go for the same old song and dance and fail to hold even the very candidate they voted for accountable.

It’s becoming more difficult with the passage of each election cycle to first find a trustworthy candidate, an honest man or woman, and to then get them elected.

If one emerges they are attacked, ridiculed, and marginalized by a willing media.

Money and vested interests predictably tip the scales while both sides of the aisle carry on about campaign reform and refuse to relinquish the associated perks.

Campaigns in my opinion should be predicated on something other than who has the largest war chest. That could be accomplished by equal access to the media, with the media providing such access as a public service and part of their licensing mandate….that would change the entire influence through donations circumstance.

The so called presidential debates shouldn’t be restricted to a list of pre approved acceptable topics or questions furnished by the candidates, and should have stayed in the hands of an organization like NOW who backed out in protest of such lists.

As it is the election process has been commandeered and manipulated from top to bottom with an often times biased media skipping merrily along playing hopscotch as money spills from their pockets and bloated corporate magnates chortle in glee.

As indigenous people we have not had a voice for generations and only now can be heard to any degree – the rest of the country seems to be unaware that they are systematically being stripped of theirs.